Thomson's Seasons. Winter, with Life of the Author, Notes and an Intr. by J.F. Bright

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1874 Excerpt: ...theory which connected mental qualities immediately with bodily conditions. Was a man's bile black, he was dull and gloomy or melancholy; when the fluid was too active he was humorous and capricious; Was the spleen too full, he was jealous and faultfinding, &c. 65, 66 Wholesome, moorish. The termination 'some,' found in handsome, buxom, wholesome, &c., was much more common in old English, e.g., ugsome, toothsome, laboursome; it means tendency, and answers to the German ending sam. "Ish" implies quality, but usually in a depreciatory sense, as childish, womanish; or slightness, as blackish. 67 Genius here means spirit, and is used as giving a personal character to the storm. 70 The cave, presageful, sent a hollow moan. Presageful means full of evil prophecy. The whole line is an instance of what Ruskin calls the pathetic fallacy, which consists in increasing, scarcely legitimately, the effect of natural appearances, by attributing to inanimate objects the feelings of human beings. First sort of storm, rain: its effect on the landscape (76); on the animal creation (80). It produces a flood (94). 73 Glooms. Properly speaking, incapable of a plural. 74 Mingling skies. Mingling: the use of this word is from the Latin. It means confused, and can be well applied here if skies is used in its original meaning of clouds. Greek ovcia, shadow, shade. Swedish--sky, a cloud. "And let a certaine winde go That blewe so hidously and hie, That it ne lefte not a skie In all the welkin long and broade." Chaucer, House of Fame. Where 'welkin,' by the by, is a similar instance; it means sky in English, where 'wolke' means cloud in German. 79 Combine. Close in for the night, as cloud-masses so often do. 80 Wanderers of heaven. Birds. 83 An instance of ...